50 Cent Garlic Fries

Another money saver! Rather than going out and spending a few dollars on some french fries, why not make your own? I bought two potatoes for half a buck and it could have fed two! So scrumptious too.. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 russet potatoes, peeled
3 cloves garlic, minced
water
canola oil
garlic powder
salt
paprika
chili powder
parsley

Directions
Holding the potato horizontally, cut 1/2 inch off one end to create a flat side. Next, hold the potato so that it's standing tall on the flat end. Cut potato into 1/2 inch slices. Create consistently shaped french fries by stacking a few slices on top of each other and slicing each into about 1/3 inch slices.

Blanch potatoes by placing them into a large pot and adding just enough water so that all are covered. Lightly salt the water and boil for 3-5 minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Drain potatoes and place in a bowl of ice water to stop cooking.

Preheat oven to 350. Wrap garlic in a loose ball of aluminum foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Once timer is up,  turn off the heat and leave the garlic in the oven until ready for use.

Extract water from the potatoes by wrapping a handful at a time in paper towels. If you like, you can let the potatoes air dry but it's not necessary. Extracting water makes for crisper fries and also minimizes splattering while frying.


Using a heavy pot, heat enough canola oil so that it's 1-2 inches deep. You'll know that the oil is ready for frying when you sprinkle a drop of water into the pot and it quickly snaps up. Use tongs to drop fries into the oil. Don't add too many at once, only about a handful at a time. Let fry for about 5 minute or until golden brown. While they are frying, prepare a plate with paper towels to allow the fries to drain. Sprinkle with garlic and scant amounts of each seasoning and serve hot!

Cream Puffs

These delicious little treats are sure to impress your guests! I left some out and froze the majority of the batch in an airtight container. Remove them from the freezer about 5 minutes to enjoy anytime! For the filling, be sure to have a pastry bag and a chopstick on hand.

Ingredients
Filling
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk

Batter
1/2 cup butter
1 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbs vanilla
3 eggs
powdered sugar

Directions
Make the filling by mixing the pudding mix, heavy cream and milk in a bowl. Cover and place in refrigerator to set. Once set, transfer to a pastry bag.

Preheat oven to 425. For the batter, bring butter and water to a bowl in a medium sized pot. Remove from heat and add salt flour and vanilla until it forms a large ball. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Let cool about 10 minutes before adding eggs. Otherwise, the eggs will begin to "cook". Mix eggs into dough, incorporating well.

Use a tablespoon to drop onto an un-greased cookie sheet or silpat. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown. 2 minutes before end time, use a toothpick to perforate each puff. This prevents the puff from collapsing. Place on cooling rack.

Once cool, poke a chopstick into each puff and move it in a circular motion to create room for the filling. Although it's not necessary, you can do this to put the maximize the amount of filling. Try to keep the hole as small as possible. Place tip of pastry bag at the same hole and fill until pastry is full. Dust with powdered sugar and serve!

Baby Blueberry Muffins

These blueberry muffins are super cute and super moist! Definitely near the top of my list of things to bake. Although I used a mini muffin tin, you can also opt for regular muffin tins, using paper liners or just using aluminum liners. Be sure to test the muffin with a toothpick and if it comes out clean and dry, you're good to go!

Ingredients
Batter
6 Tbs unsalted butter
1/3 cup skim milk
1 egg yolk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 cups fresh (definitely not frozen) blueberries
cooking spray

Streusel
3 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup all-pourpose flour
6 Tbs brown sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. For batter, melt butter over low heat. Remove from heat and mix with milk, yolk and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in separate bowl. Use a whisk to incorporate wet and dry mixes. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to gently fold in blueberries. Set aside.

For streusel, place butter, flour and brown sugar in a bowl. Use your hands to break up butter and mix ingredients. You'll know when you're finished when mixture is crumbly. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and fill each cup about 2/3 full of batter. Sprinkle with streusel. Bake about 22 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean and dry.

Palabok

Palabok is a Filipino noodle dish. It is one of my sisters' favorite Filipino meals that my mother makes. The part that makes it so great is all the toppings. So, make sure you don't skip out on anything! As the cook, it's also really fun to decorate the dish!

Ingredients
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 package of thin *pancit noodles
2 packages of *pancit palabok mix
1/2 lb shrimp, boiled and de-shelled
1 hard boiled egg, sliced
1/3 cup green onions, minced
1 lemon sliced
pork *chicharon, grounded

Directions
Saute garlic until golden brown. Place on paper towel and set aside. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add pancit noodles. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until soft. Transfer to a strainer and run cold water through to stop cooking. Place drained noodles in a serving bowl. Cook two packages of pancit palabok mix according to directions. Pour sauce over noodles. Decorate noodles with garlic, shrimp, egg, some green onions and some lemon. Place chicharon and remaining green onions and lemon in side dishes.

*Note: These ingredients can be found at Filipino grocery stores.

Beef Mechado

This tomato based beef stew is a traditional Filipino dish. Although slow cooking beef challenges the patience, it yields such delicious results! So, be sure to take your time with this recipe. Although I prefer to use healthier options when cooking, sometimes brown rice just doesn't go with Asian inspired foods! It's up to you of course, but beef mechado is best served with white rice =]

Ingredients
1.5 lb beef, cut into 3 inch cubes
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 tsp black pepper
1 russet potato, peeled and cut into eighths
1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
1 onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 small or 1 large can tomato sauce
1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
cooking oil

Directions
Combine beef, soy sauce and black pepper in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 1-4 hours. Blanch potatoes and carrots by placing in lightly salted boiling water for 3-5 minutes, or until tender. Remove vegetables and place in a bowl of ice to stop cooking. Set aside. Oil the bottom of a large pot and saute garlic and onion. Add marinated beef and slow cook until browned and only center is pink (water may be added to keep meat soft). Add tomato sauce, potatoes, carrots and bell pepper and simmer until center of beef is no longer pink. Add bell pepper and let simmer for 3 minutes. Serve over white rice and enjoy!

Tortilla Chips & Salsa

Do you ever wonder why 1 bag of tortilla chips is about $3? What about why they only sell corn tortillas in bags of 25 or more? It's because you're supposed to make your own tortilla chips! I bought a bag of corn tortillas for about $1.50 but only needed about 4 tortillas to equal a basket of chips. This is quick and simple and the best part about it is you can enjoy them while they're warm!


Ingredients
6 inch corn tortillas (preferably white)
canola oil
lime
salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Use a brush to oil both sides of corn tortillas. Stack oiled tortillas on top of each other. Use a pizza cutter to slice into sixths. Spread evenly in a single layer on a baking sheet. Squeeze lime over chips. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Salt to taste and enjoy while warm!

Salsa is one of my favorite things to make because the fresh ingredients give so much flavor and it requires no cooking at all! You can adjust this recipe to preference as some prefer more or less cilantro, peppers or onion.


Ingredients
1/4 cup cilantro, de-stemmed
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes
1/2 serrano pepper (optional. add seeds for spicy, no seeds for medium)
1/3 cup white onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs jalapeno juice (optional)
salt
pepper

Directions
Use a food chopper to blend cilantro and half the can of diced tomatoes and pepper for about 10 seconds. Pour mixture into a large bowl and stir in remainder of can, onions, garlic and jalapeno juice (optional). Add salt and pepper to taste.

Hands On Oatmeal Bars

When I was younger, my parents told me that cookies turn out best when you mix them with your hands. It wasn't until I was making these that I remembered this and it still holds true! This is a very messy recipe, from beginning to end but it's so tasty and so much fun! I found a recipe and tweaked it a bit so that I could incorporate some whole wheat flour. 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
1 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cup strawberry jam
1/4 cup chopped almonds

Preparation

Toasted Coconut

Preheat oven to 325 with rack in center of oven. Spread 3/4 cup of coconut flakes on a baking sheet, making sure they are singly layered. Bake for 14 minutes or until lightly toasted. 

Preheat oven to 375.

Directions

Mix whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add butter. Hand knead butter into flour mixture until a dough forms. Please be sure that your hands are washed directly before this step! Although it seems strange to add cold butter, the warmth of your hands will melt it, forming a dough. Fold in toasted coconut flakes and rolled oats. 

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch metal baking pan. Reserving 3/4 cup oatmeal mixture, press evenly into the bottom of baking pan. Evenly spread jam across the oatmeal mixture. Using your hands, sprinkle oatmeal mixture across the jam. Make sure you are breaking up the oatmeal as your sprinkle it so that it is crumbly on the jam. Sprinkle remaining coconut and chopped almonds. The key to sprinkling evenly is to sprinkle lightly and in an orderly fashion! Bake in center of rack for 23-28 minutes.


Place pan on a cooling rack and let cool completely. Loosen the edges with a knife and then remove as one piece and place on cutting board. Using a pizza cutter, slice into bars. 

Gourmet. "Oatmeal Coconut Raspberry Bars Recipe at Epicurious.com." Epicurious.com: Recipes, Menus, Cooking Articles & Food Guides. Feb. 2002. Web. 02 Feb. 2011. <http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Oatmeal-Coconut-Raspberry-Bars-106179>.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

This is a recipe that my friends Nicole and Krystal taught me. I only learned it just over a month ago and I've already made it several different times now! It's one of my favorite things to make because it is so fresh tasting and healthy! Most of the ingredients can only be found at an Asian grocery store but once you've tracked one down, you'll see that all the ingredients are very cheap. 

Ingredients

1 lb small shrimp

2 lb thinly sliced beef

salt

pepper

1 package vermicelli

3 Tbsp hoisin sauce

1 Tbsp peanut butter

1 tsp water

1 head of green leaf lettuce
5 cups warm-hot water

1/2 cucumber, julienned

1 bunch of mint leaves, rinsed and de-stemmed

chili paste

Preparation

Shrimp

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small pot. Deveine and peel shrimp. Add shrimp to water. Since shrimp does take too long to cook, wait until shrimp turns pink. After it has, drain thoroughly.

Beef

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Season water with salt and pepper. Add beef. Cook until beef is no longer pink. After all the pink is gone, cook for about 1 more minute. Drain thoroughly.

Vermicelli

Heat about 4 cups of water in a large pot until almost simmering. Add Vermicelli. Let sit in hot water about 4 minutes or until soft. Place noodles in a strainer and run cold water through it. Drain thoroughly.

Peanut Sauce

Combine hoisin sauce, peanut butter and water in a small pot. Stir over medium-high heat until boiling. Let boil for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Depending on what kind of peanut butter you are using, you may want to adjust the amount of water you use. Some peanut butter leaves this sauce a little bit salty, so more water is necessary. If you add water, be sure to add a little corn starch while the pot is heated to keep a thick consistency.

Lettuce

Chop off the root of the lettuce. Rinse leaves and pat dry with a paper towel. Slice leaves down the center, trimming away the hard stem. 

Directions

First, fill an extra large bowl with 5 cups of warm-hot water. Dip one spring roll sheet into the water, making sure to cover all areas. It does not need to soak, as it will soften quicker than you think! Place a piece of lettuce on the edge of the sheet that is closest to you. Next, begin stacking the cucumbers, mint, beef and shrimp. Try to add no more than 4 pieces of each vegetable, 3 pieces of beef and 4 pieces of shrimp. Remember, you still need to roll it! Lastly, using a fork, add about a medium bite sized amount of vermicelli. Make sure it is stretching horizontally rather than clumped up on one side of the sheet. Add peanut sauce and chili paste to taste. In general, add all the vegetables to taste. Some people prefer less mint than others! 


To begin rolling, lift the edge of the sheet that is closest to you. You will notice that it is now much more delicate! So, be sure to use light fingers! Fold it over all of the vegetables, tucking the vegetables close towards you. Next, fold the left and right sides of the sheet towards the center. Finish rolling the side closer to you until it is all rolled. Make sure to keep the vegetables tight toward the spring roll so that you don't end up with a floppy mess! 


Some people have different thoughts on rolling, which vegetables to use or whether to keep the peanut sauce and chili sauce out and dip with every bite. For more spice, you can use cilantro. For a vegetarian spring roll, you can use scrambled eggs as a meat substitute. It's really up to you, and this is just how I like to do it. Enjoy!

Spicy Sesame Asparagus

This is a delicious recipe with little preparation. It's about 2 servings and my favorite way to eat it is with a side of brown rice! I prefer to use skinny asparagus because it shortens cooking time since I don't have to skin the spears and it softens quicker. 

Ingredients

1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp corn starch
1 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil OR enough for 2 turns in a frying pan
1 clove of garlic
1/2 lb skinny asparagus
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
salt
pepper
1/8 tsp sesame seeds

Preparation

Trim about 3/4 inch off the bottom of the asparagus.  Slice the asparagus into 2 inch pieces at a diagonal.  To remove skin from a piece of garlic, place underneath the chopping board and forcefully press down. The skin of the garlic will separate and be easy to remove. Minch garlic. 
Next, combine soy sauce, sugar and corn starch. Stir until everything is dissolved.

Directions

Coat a frying pan with about two turns of extra virgin olive oil. Place over medium heat. When the pan is thoroughly heated, add minced garlic. You will know when the oil is completely heated through when you add a single piece of minced garlic and it immediately begins to sizzle. Stir garlic for 15 seconds. Add asparagus. Let cook for about 4 minutes or until the asparagus is just soft, stirring occasionally. Add soy sauce mixture and toss asparagus until all pieces are coated. Remove from heat. Add crushed red peppers and a couple dashes of salt and pepper to taste. Finally, add sesame seeds!


As with anything that adds heat, you can always adjust how much crushed red pepper to add. I like all my foods on the spicier side so if you're like me, this is just the right amount of spice without being overwhelming!

Mint Chocolate Cakies

I was inspired to do something with our leftover holiday chocolates so it wouldn't go to waste. So I thought I could try my chances with using Andes Chocolate Mints as an icing and it worked out perfectly! This is a really easy cookie to bake and it's actually made from cake flour (hence, "cakies"!). An old friend showed me this trick and it not only makes everything easier, it makes the cookie super soft!

Ingredients

• 1 box chocolate fudge cake mix
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 16 pieces of Andes Chocolate Mints, each broken in half

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Mix cake mix, eggs and vegetable oil in medium bowl. Roll into 1 inch balls. Place sugar in a small bowl. Roll cookie dough in sugar, then place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches away from each other. Bake 8-10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean when inserted into center of cookie. Place cookie sheet on cooling rack.

While cookies are still warm, gently press a piece of Andes Chocolate Mint into the center of cookie. Repeat until all cookies contain a piece of chocolate mint. Beginning at the first cookie that you pressed, use the back of a spoon to swirl chocolate across the surface of the cookie. Let cool completely and enjoy!

Vanilla Coconut Cupcakes

A couple friends and I made these cupcakes for my 24th Birthday. Although it takes quite a bit of preparation, the outcome is well worth it! They have more of a muffin-like thickness but the vanilla coconut flavor is great!

Ingredients

Reduced Coconut Milk

• 2 cans (at least 12 oz) of unsweetened coconut milk

Cupcakes

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup reduced coconut milk, room temperature

Frosting

• 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup reduced coconut milk, room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes, toasted

Preparation

Reduced Coconut Milk
Using a deep saucepan, bring two cans of coconut milk to a boil at medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and boil until amount of milk has reduced to 1 1/2 cups, stirring occasionally. The milk will splatter—prepare to get messy! Remove from heat, transfer to a separate bowl and cool to room temperature. You may do this step in advance, and store it in the fridge for up to two days.


Toasted Coconut Flakes
Preheat oven to 325 with rack in center of oven. Spread coconut flakes on a baking sheet, making sure they are singly layered. Bake for 14 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Directions

Cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 with rack in center of oven. Line about 18 muffin cups with liners or, grease muffin pan and lightly sprinkle with all purpose flour. Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Using a mixer, beat butter in a large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat on medium-high until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Frequently scrape down the sides of the bowls to incorporate entire mixture. Beat in vanilla. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Add 1 cup reduced coconut milk. Mix on low speed until just blended. Fill muffin to only 2/3 full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cupcake. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.


Frosting
Using mixer, beat butter in large bowl until smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1/3 cup reduced coconut milk, vanilla and salt. Scrape sides of bowl to incorporate entire mixture. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is light and fluffy.
You can use a pastry bag, or even just the back of the spoon to apply the frosting to the cupcakes. For the picture above, I just used a spoon. Just be sure that the cupcakes are completely cool before decorating, otherwise, the frosting will run right off the sides of the cupcake! If decorating with a spoon, be sure to use a light hand and take care not to touch the cupcake with the utensil. This may cause crumbs to be pulled up into the frosting! Finally, lightly top off each cupcake with as much coconut as you like!


Johnson Dodgee, Abigail, and Bon Appetit. "Vanilla Bean-Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Frosting Recipe at Epicurious.com." Epicurious.com: Recipes, Menus, Cooking Articles & Food Guides. Apr. 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2011. <http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vanilla-Bean-Coconut-Cupcakes-with-Coconut-Frosting-352095>.

Oatmeal Coconut Lace Cookies

I wanted to make a sweet but healthier snack so I searched for an oatmeal recipe, and found this! It's not entirely healthy but it's definitely one of my favorite oatmeal cookies! I did change the recipe a tiny bit for my preference. This is what I did...

Ingredients

Cookies

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
• 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Decoration

• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped and melted
• 3 oz white chocolate, chopped and melted

Materials

• 2 cookie sheets
• non-stick liners e.g., parchment paper, silpat, silicone baking mat.
• 1 tsp measuring spoon
• 2 ziplock sandwich bags

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 with baking rack in center of oven. Line cookie sheets with non-stick liners.

Bring a small pot of water to a simmer. Place a metal bowl on top of pot. Make sure the bowl is large enough so that it is not in direct contact with the water. Mix butter, sugar and salt in bowl until melted. Add coconut, oats, flour and cinnamon. Stir until just mixed. Turn off heat, but keep the bowl on top of the pot to stay warm.

Use a 1 tsp measuring spoon to measure and drop rounded scoops onto the non-stick liners. Make sure the drops are at least 3 inches away from each other. These cookies spread a lot!

Bake in oven 8 minutes, or until bubbling with brown edges.

Let sit on non-stick liners, on a cooling rack,  for about 4 minutes—or until set. Relocate cookies directly onto cooling rack.

Be sure that non-stick liners are clean and dry before reusing.

Let all cookies cool completely.

Meanwhile, you can melt the chocolate if you haven't already done so. Let chocolate cool completely. Transfer to ziplock sandwich bags. If you don't have anyone helping you, use a tall cup. Position the bag so that one of the bottom corners is at center of the cup. Fold the top of the ziplock bag over the edge of the cup. Slowly scoop the melted chocolate into the center of the cup.

Lay cookies out on a cookie sheet that will fit into your freezer. Snip a tiny hole in the corner of the ziplock bags. The tinier the lines, the fancier they look! Decorate the cookies using quick zip zags. Place the tray in the freezer for about 3 minutes to let the chocolate set.

Wiseman, Shelley, and Gourmet. "Coconut Oatmeal Lace Cookies Recipe at Epicurious.com."Epicurious.com: Recipes, Menus, Cooking Articles & Food Guides. Dec. 2008. Web. 24 Jan. 2011. <http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Coconut-Oatmeal-Lace-Cookies-350924>.